Finger foods and gagging and offering enough

We started offering solid food about 5 weeks ago at 7 months. I just gave him big chunks and he initially played with it and tasted it. Now he is getting better with pincer grip, and can get food to his mouth better.

I feel this "pressure" to have him eating more solid food. The other day I didn't have any more frozen roasted vegetables, so because we were eating what was left in the pantry, I gave him a rinsed canned green bean. I chewed on one first to assess it's mushability, and thought it fine.

Well my son scared me. He was gagging a lot on the piece he gummed off. I was so relieved when he pushed most of it back out. but he continued to struggle with swallowing the little piece he still had in his mouth. When he nursed a little while later, he had to pull off at first to get it swallowed.

It really scared me. But When i offered him some of my applesauce the next night, on a spoon, he wanted to grab the spoon with both hands and put it in his mouth on his own. So spoon feeding him isn't going to work

Re: Finger foods and gagging and offering enough

It sounds like your son knew just how to deal with the new texture ;-) Gagging is a good thing, it protects him. Don't let it scare you.

It sounds all totally normal for 8 months. There is always pressure out there, and I think as our children grow older we are forced to learn how to ignore it or deal with it in a way so we don't go potty. You know your son, and his needs best. Just thank people for their advice and what I find works well with MIL or SIL is to ask them about their own children or their own childhood to get them talking about something else, and not my child and what I should do.
My son loved spoons for a while, when he was under one year, dipping them into everything in reach and licking it off like from a lollipop. So i put a little out for him in a saucer to dip into himself, I think he wanted a spoon because we use implements to eat with.